APPD Southeast

May 13, 2005

Renaissance Hotel Washington, DC

Facilitator:

Marc Majure

Type of meeting:

Regional Spring Breakfast

Attendees:

Program Directors, Program Coordinators, and Chief Residents affiliated with Categorical, Subspecialty and Combined Training Programs in Pediatrics in the Southeast Region of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors.

Minutes

Agenda item:

Research opportunities

Presenter:

Lee Sanders, MD, MPH

Discussion:

Dr. Sanders presented an overview of the Continuity Research Network (CORNET) and indicated that there were opportunities for programs to join this network. A more detailed description of the network can be found in the Region’s Spring, 2005 Newsletter on the APPD website. Dr. Sanders collected contact information for interested programs. The group followed this with a brief discussion of how regional organization can provide a network for research collaboration within the Southeast Region.

Conclusions:

Facilitation of research should be viewed as a regional priority.

Action items

Person responsible

Deadline

ü Individuals who expressed interest in CORNET will be contacted.

Lee Sanders, MD, MPH

NA

Agenda item:

Regional Listserv

Presenter:

Marc Majure, MD

Discussion:

Earlier this year, an unmoderated listserv was established for use by the Region. Housed at Duke University, the List Owner is Marc Majure. Currently the list is a closed list limited to those affiliated with programs in APPD Southeast. Discussion indicated that the listserv was a valuable tool and had been utilized by many of the attendees. Subscription information was distributed and also may be found in the Region’s Spring 2005 Newsletter.

Conclusions:

Listserv is a valuable and useful tool. Listserv should remain unmoderated with a closed membership.

Action items

Person responsible

Deadline

ü New subscriptions will be reviewed and added as indicated.

Marc Majure, MD

NA

Agenda item:

Regional organization

Presenter:

Marc Majure, MD

Discussion:

The APPD is formalizing the previously loose regional structure by proposing some basic guidelines to help regions become more cohesive and to foster collaboration within the region. Attendees discussed the proposed structure. A detailed description may be found in the Region’s Spring, 2005 Newsletter. It was again agreed that geography made it difficult for formal meetings in the region at times other than the Spring APPD meeting. However, several cluster groups have met over the preceding year, including Georgia Plus, North Carolina, and Virginia. Reports from these clusters indicated that these meeting were helpful. A suggestion as made to have assigned tables by single or a combination of states at the next Regional Breakfast to facilitate cluster discussions in this forum. In terms of overall value for efforts, the group felt that the Listserv was the most helpful and held the most potential as a tool for “real-time” collaboration. The Newsletter was felt to be less helpful.

Conclusions:

Regional organization should proceed per APPD proposal; Listserv should continue; cluster meetings were encouraged where feasible.

Action items

Person responsible

Deadline

ü

Agenda item:

Regional election

Presenter:

Ken Roberts, MD

Discussion:

Through the listserv a call was made for nominations for 2 Chairs (Program Director and Program Director). Nominations were returned and biosketches were distributed via the listserv. A vote was taken and 2 Chairs were elected.

Conclusions:

Election results: Program Coordinator-Jenny Myers, East Carolina University; Program Director-Marc Majure, Duke University.

Open Forum

After agenda items had been covered, an open forum was held for discussion. Discussion items are summarized:

Item 1

In order to facilitate more discussion at future meetings, it was suggested that time be carved out for Program Directors and Coordinators to have separate discussions before coming together as a group. This will be taken into consideration when planning the next Regional Breakfast. Additionally, time for each representative to introduce himself/herself at the start of the breakfast meeting should be allotted.

Item 2

Frustration was noted that with the growing membership, it is becoming harder to know the individuals in our region. One suggestion to help with that is for the Roster of Attendees to be broken down by region so that members in each region can quickly see who from their region is attending that year’s meeting. This feedback and request will be given to the APPD leadership.

Item 3

Lively discussion was had concerning the start date for fellowships. While it was recognized that there are some barriers to delaying start dates for fellows until July 7, e.g. potential loss of health insurance during the “transition” period between residency and fellowship, the group supported the concept of a delayed start. Assigning “terminal vacation” to graduating residents was discussed with varied opinions. It was decided that the Southeast Region would like to communicate to the leadership of the APPD that we support a delayed start for fellowships and would ask that the APPD advocate for such at the national level.

Special Notes

After the meeting had adjourned, an additional item was brought to the attention of the Chair. This item stemmed from a concern by smaller programs that there seemed to be fewer opportunities for residents to find elective experiences at larger programs in subspecialties that may not be available at their home program. A request was made to formulate a database or mechanism through which such opportunities may be identified. Further discussion of this item will be through the listserv.